JUST AROUND THE CORNER

We’ll wake up Saturday morning to the official arrival of fall, following the Autumnal Equinox at 2:50 a.m.  But if you’ve been looking around, signs of the new season have been teasing us for weeks.

 

A LAST LOOK

 

Gardening season is coming to a close.  We’ve already had our first frost advisory, though I don’t think it materialized in most places.  I've been taking one last look at some of the beautiful gardens I see from the roadside, tucking the images away as memories for a bleaker season yet to come.

PURE LAKESHORE: THE DUNES

 

Many features make Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore special.  One of them is the abundant dune landforms.  On a recent morning I visited the Lakeshore capturing dune scenes from Platte River to Bohemian Road.  

My first stop was Platte River Point where you can see Empire Bluffs and Sleeping Bear Point in the distance.

Low dunes often don’t receive the oohs and aahs that the high ones get but I find their beauty just as spectacular.  These dunes are along the Platte River Point Park.

Next I moved to Empire Beach, one of my favorite Lake Michigan beaches for sunsets due to its accessibility.  To the north is Sleeping Bear Dune, which has had two sandslides this century sending large land masses plunging into Lake Michigan.

The spectacular Empire Bluffs are seen to the south from Empire Beach.  Esch Road is another place to view these bluffs, but the walking there is more difficult.

Glen Haven beach was my next stop.  Its sandy beach with views of the massive Manitou Islands tease one into thinking the islands are closer than they are.

The Dune Climb isn’t far from Glen Haven and I captured this early morning scene before too many climbers were present.

From the Glen Arbor beach, Pyramid Point Bluff is seen to the north.  It too sustained a major sandslide in 1998, sending thousands of tons of sand into the Lake.

My final stop of the day was another of my favorite Lakeshore spots, Bohemian Road Beach and Good Harbor Bay.  Its beach is expansive and you get another view of Pyramid Point to the left.

To the north you can see the Whaleback and Carp River Point.  Beautiful low dunes predominate this popular beach, which is also quite accessible and a great spot for sunset watching.

ICONIC M-22

 Scenic highways are abundant in Michigan.  M-119’s Tunnel of Trees.  US-2’s Top of the Lake Scenic Byway.  US-23’s Sunrise Coast.  But none are as iconic as M-22’s Circle Tour of the Leelanau Peninsula.  A whole culture has sprung up around the M-22 meme.  The roads signs became so popular they were stolen and their replacements are now without the M to make them less inviting.  Restaurants and lodging pirated the name and mailboxes sprung up with the logo.  A new business featuring M-22 clothing, mugs, and other up north paraphernalia was born.  Perhaps the most popular item seen bearing the M-22 logo is the omnipresent bumper sticker.  Yup, that’s the one on my car. 

MORE POEM THAN PICTURES

 

Weeks ago, a poet friend sent me a poem by Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelia, who died July 1st from injuries sustained in a Russian missile strike.  Her poem was inspired by her work interviewing women who lived through the Russian occupation.  The poem stuck with me and I’ve taken a few crow pictures to illustrate.  

Poem About a Crow

 

In a barren springtime field

Stands a woman dressed in black

Crying her sisters’ names

Like a bird in the empty sky

She’ll cry them all out of herself

The one that flew away too soon

The one that had begged to die

The one that couldn’t stop death

The one that has not stopped waiting

The one that has not stopped believing

The one that still grieves in silence

She’ll cry them all into the ground

As though sowing the field with pain

And from pain and the names of women

Her new sisters will grow from the earth

And again will sing joyfully of life

 

But what about her, the crow?

 

She will stay in this field forever

Because only this cry of hers

Holds all those swallows in the air

 

Do you hear how she calls

Each one by her name?

CRANES UP CLOSE

 

I see Sandhill Cranes often when I’m shooting in farm country this time of year.  I saw six of them together in one spot but they were too far away to get good pictures.  I moved on to the field where I often see my favorite pair.  The farmer had replaced the corn crop with soybeans this year.  I found my two regulars feasting away, one pecked and ate while the other stood guard.  It was great to see them up close.

BLUE ON BLUE

 

I never get enough sky and water scenes.  So many shades of blue, it's impossible to name them all.  Cerulean, turquoise, azure, and many more.  I try soaking them up as summer moves towards fall... before the blue on blue becomes gray on gray.